Another Like Me
by Black Ice
Summary: part 17 is up! all done! Anyway, Rob comes to Bayville. Isn't psyched to join either side, but somethings gotta happen...right?
1. Neutral

There are actually others like me __

There are actually others like me. Rob Lewis thought as he stepped off the train. He was about half an hour away from the town of Bayville where Professor Xavier Institute for Gifted Children was located. The professor had contacted him several days ago, inviting him to drop in. Rob has quickly declined the invitation and set out to get a look at the school by himself before he joined it. He had been on his own for over a year and wasn't about to let anybody take control of his life just yet. 

He quickly ran around a corner of the station, sensing that somebody was there. He always had that kind of a sense about him. It wasn't a mutation; it was a deadly, sickly feeling that somebody was going to pull something on him. He plastered himself against a wall. A boy with white hair and another with darker hair walked past him. 

"You sure this is where he'd be?" the white-haired one said. 

"Are you doubting Mystique?" the darker-haired one replied. "She said he'd be around here. We've got to get to him before those X-Geeks do." 

"I guess so," the white-haired one whined, "but Lance, I'mtiredofwaitingandIneedtogotothebathroom!" 

"Pietro, I told you to go before we left!" Lance yelled back at him. 

Rob plastered himself against the wall. He could only guess that Lance and Pietro were members of the X-Men or the Brotherhood, the two local mutant hangouts, as he thought of them. He slowly peeled himself off the wall and ran as fast as he could towards the exit of the train station. Behind him, he could hear Lance screaming at Pietro to catch up with the guy who was running away. 

"Got ya!" Pietro grabbed him by his arm. Rob looked into the face of the other guy. 

"Who are you?" he asked, trying to look innocent as he tried to slip his glove off.

"I'm Pietro, and don't try to look so innocent. We know you're a mutant. We just need you to go with the Brotherhood instead of those X-Geeks."

"Funny, I thought you were a member of the X-Men, that's why I hid." Rob told him. Pietro looked amused and let go of his arm. Rob took a step back.

"Are you saying that you're with us?" Pietro asked. A breathless Lance caught up with them. 

"No, I'm saying stay out of my way! I don't need any mutant clubs!" Rob screamed at him. He latched onto Pietro's face with his bare hand. He started to absorb the other mutant's powers at an alarming rate. He could see the amazed look on Pietro's face. Then he went limp. Rob let go of his arm and felt the amazing speed take him over. He ran out of the station and towards the streets of Bayville. Lance stared after him.

"Another Rouge," he whispered. He fought the urge to stomp his foot and force Rob to fall. He watched as Rob took off into the streets, then dragged Pietro out to the car, which was parked outside the station. He drove it to the booth, paid for parking, and then took off for the Brotherhood's headquarters. 

Rob watched him from the distance. He could tell that he had made a very bad move. He should have played dumb and not said anything. Now he was stuck with Pietro's powers and memories and they weren't pleasant. At least the memories weren't. 

He used the speed to run to the outside of the Bayville Mansion. He couldn't see anybody around the outside of the place. He followed the fence around to the back of the house. There was a girl with brown hair and a guy with blue fur in the backyard. The girl was typing on a laptop and constantly trying to get away from the blue guy who was chasing her around. Finally the girl ran back into the mansion. A guy with spiky blond hair came back out with her. The blue guy ran over to him and soon, the two were involved in a one-on-one basketball game. Rob smiled to himself, remembering what it'd been like to have fun like that. Before he discovered he couldn't touch anybody.

Suddenly, an adult came out of the backdoor. He was tall and muscular. His nose twitched and he looked in Rob's direction. Rob looked straight back at him, then sensing that this was a bad person to tangle with, took off into the woods. He headed back around to the front of the house and looked at it. Suddenly, he got an idea from one of Pietro's memories. He ran quickly through the house to check it out. It was big and spacious and had rooms everywhere he looked. It was the kind of place his grandparents lived in, before they kicked him out for being a mutant. Suddenly, a red-haired girl came out of one of the rooms he ran by. He could hear her gasp.

"Quicksilver!" she shouted. Rob heard another person run out of the room. Suddenly, red blasts were being shot at him.

"I'll get him!" yelled a guy's voice. Rob hit the end of the hallway and realized he was at a dead end. Another blast hit close to his head. He started running back towards them. 

"Scott, don't! You'll wreak the place," the girl said. She put her hands to her head. Rob began to get a bad feeling about it as he was slowly lifted off the ground. His legs continued to run in place while he hung.

"You're not Quicksilver. What did you do to him?" yelled Scott. 

Rob refused to speak, just fought the hold on him. Suddenly, he broke loose and started running. This time, the two couldn't catch him. He regained Pietro's speed and took off. He got off the property as fast as possible.


	2. You again?

Well, at least it was a nice place __

Well, at least it was a nice place. Rob thought to himself as he ran down the sidewalk. He was quickly loosing speed. He stopped at a nice-looking hotel and walked in. The desk clerk looked at his suspiciously, as if expecting some girl to appear from behind him. He smirked at the clerk and walked up to the desk.

"May I help you?" the clerk asked.

"I'd like a room, please. Single, non-smoking." Rob told her.

"How long?" the clerk asked. 

"I don't know, can I pay by the day?" Rob asked.

"Doesn't work that way. How long?" the clerk was getting annoyed. 

"A week?" Rob said. He handed the clerk his credit card, the only one that his grandparents hadn't had revoked when they kicked him out. Amazingly, they still paid its bill. It was their way of telling him that he was still loved, just not wanted. 

The clerk scanned the card. "Robert Lewis?" she said.

"That's me," he answered.

"Sign here please." Rob signed the sheet where she indicated. She handed him a list of rules and the keys to the room. "This'll get you into the free buffet in the mornings, but that's the only meal provided. All the rest costs extra," she told him. Rob smiled.

"Ok."

"Your room is 45, on the second floor. The elevator is over there. We clean the rooms between the hours of nine and four." 

"Fine." Rob turned and went up to his room. He dumped his backpack onto the bed and turned on the TV, trying to figure out what had gone on that day. 

"Professor, you should have seen him. He was about six feet and he was dark haired and he was fast, just like Quicksilver." Jean Grey told Professor X that afternoon after their encounter with Rob. 

"How would he have gotten Quicksilver's powers? It's hard to believe that he's just fast. And he was wearing jeans and a jacket and gloves, in this heat!" Scott put in.

"Scott, it's not unheard of for mutants to have the same powers." The Professor told him, "but it is unusual."

"So now we're dealing with a new Quicksilver?" Jean asked.

"I don't know. What did you say he looked like again." Professor X asked.

"He was tall, around six feet. He had brown hair and pale eyes. The eyes were almost yellow." Jean said.

"That sounds an awful lot like Robert Lewis. I was contacted by his grandparents about a month ago after they heard about us. They were very upset, they kicked him out of their house a year ago, when they thought he was a danger to everybody around him," the Professor told them.

"What are his powers?" Scott asked.

"I'm not completely sure." The professor said. "He seems to change with the mutants around him. But your description of his dressing habits makes me think he might be like Rouge. Untouchable."

"Then we have to get to him before the Brotherhood does." Jean said.

"That won't be easy. He's somehow immune to Cerebro. He can't be detected." The Professor put in.

"Then check around the city. He's got to be here somewhere." Jean said.

"No, don't go anywhere. He'll come to us. We aren't going to push him." The Professor suddenly had a change of heart. "Scott, I want you to assemble everybody. It's time for a training simulation." 

"Why don't you just call them?" Scott asked.

"Because I asked you to get them," the Professor told him, slightly annoyed. 

"Ok." Jean said, sensing the Professor wanted them out. She led Scott out of the room and then put her hands to her head. _Guys, suit up and meet us in the danger room. _ She called to everybody telepathically. She could hear them groaning, but they all stopped what they were doing and made their way to the room. The Professor followed from behind and let them all into the room. He put on a simulation similar to the ones they did every day, just dodging lasers, saws, and such and they got to work. They didn't know that the Professor wasn't paying attention at all. He was talking to Logan. Logan nodded at him. 

"Rogue, Kitty and Kurt, I need you to go with Logan," they heard. Kitty phased through the wall and Kurt teleported out. Rogue looked at the rest of them and used the door that the Professor had helpfully opened. 

"Lets go, Rogue, half-pint, blue boy." Logan said. They trooped out of the room.


	3. Where to go

Rob silently took his keys and crept out of his room

Rob silently took his keys and crept out of his room. He felt Pietro's powers drain out of him by the minute. He couldn't use the speed at all, he would just have to walk slowly to the McDonald's around the corner. He left the hotel and started over. He was a little over halfway when Pietro, Lance, a fat boy, and a boy sitting like a frog stopped him and pulled him into a back alley.

"Nobody crosses us like that." Pietro threatened him. Rob felt a smile playing on his face. 

"Oh yeah? You can't touch me, or I could kill you," he threatened back. Just for spite, he slipped off one of his gloves, then the other one. 

"Get him!" shouted the fat one. He raced towards Rob. Rob just smiled and placed his bare hands on the other boy's arm. He felt the powers being absorbed into his body. Slowly, he let go of his arm. 

"Fred is it?" Rob whispered at him, "you shouldn't have done that." He threw Fred aside. Pietro, Lance, and the boy he now knew was Todd looked at him startled. They started to grab hold of Pietro to run out, but Rob held out a hand. "Going somewhere?" 

They looked at him. Pietro nodded quickly.

"I wouldn't do that. Stay right there or I'll beat the living hell out of you." Rob threatened. He had Fred's powers, nobody was going to be able to get past him.

"What do you want?" Todd asked.

"I want you to leave me alone. I don't want to join your Brotherhood. I don't want to join anything. I'm a loner. Get lost." Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Lance pick up his foot and stomp it down. Before he had a chance to react, the ground around him shook. He lost his footing and fell over. Pietro sped up to him and grabbed him from behind. He tried to break loose, but then Fred stood up. Rob gulped as he realized he hadn't absorbed as much of Fred's powers as he thought he had.

"Toad, put the gloves back on him." Lance said. "Blob, hold him." Rob felt somebody with incredibly strength take hold of his arms. He couldn't break free and he couldn't get any of his bare skin to touch anybody around him.

"Now, you listen to us." Pietro began. He looked over to Lance for encouragement. Lance nodded. "Don't go trying to absorb any of our powers, it won't work." 

"You have two choices. Join us or get you ass kicked." Lance supplied.

"How about neither?" Rob heard a voice from behind him say. He saw the tall muscular guy from the mansion standing there. Long, silver fang-like contraptions were sticking out from between his fingers. Behind him stood the girl with a brown ponytail, a girl with brown hair and a gothic look to her, and the blue devil-look alike. He recognized all of them, but the gothic girl, from the mansion. The four were wearing colorful uniforms with X's on them. He could only guess that they were members of Professor Xavier's infamous X-men. 

The huge guy took a swipe at Lance. Lance fell over backwards, the regained himself. The ponytail girl ran over to Rob and walked through Fred's arm and grabbed hold of Rob. She then dragged him out of the grip. Rob felt himself pass through Fred's arm. He looked around. The claw guy was taking swipes at Lance. The blue one was teleporting himself up to a nearby window ledge after grabbing Todd and bringing him with him. He left Todd on the ledge and went back down. The Gothic girl was running towards Fred with her hands outstretched.

_Loser crowd. _Rob thought. He ran towards the street and was stopped by the blue devil teleporting in front of him. Pietro also ran right in front of him, blocking his way.

"You're not going anywhere." Pietro said, keeping his distance. Rob slowly took his gloves off.

"Yah, for once I agree with Quicksilver." The devil said. His tail bounced side to side. He stood close, unlike Pietro.

Rob rolled his eyes. "Look, Blue guy, Quicksilver. You have no idea who I am." He pressed his hand on the blue devil's face, absorbing his powers. The devil looked at him in surprise.

"You, Rogue," he said, before he passed out. 

"Later." Rob said, then teleported himself to his hotel room, leaving amazed X-Men and Brotherhood members surrounding the unconscious Kurt 

_Who was that? _Was the combined thought off all the people.


	4. It's YOUR fault.

"Great, X-Geeks, you let him go

"Great, X-Geeks, you let him go!" Lance yelled. 

"We, like, didn't do anything!" Kitty yelled back.

"You phased him out of Fred's grip!"

"So? You were holding him hostage, ya know?" 

"Kids, calm down." Logan stepped in the middle of everything. "X-Men, let's go." 

"Fine by me," Rogue said. She turned her back on her former colleagues and followed Logan and Kitty out. Logan grabbed Kurt and threw him over his shoulder. He put the blue elf in the car and sniffed the air.

"Rogue, you and Kitty stay here." Logan took off down the road. He stopped quickly to get something decent on and took off again. He followed the scent of Rob until he hit a hotel room. He walked up to the desk.

"May I help you?" the clerk asked.

"Yeah, has Robert Lewis registered in this hotel?" Logan asked. He could smell Robert standing nearby, he just couldn't find him.

"I'm sorry sir, that is privileged information." Logan looked at the clerk and swore under his breath.

"Look, this is important." Logan said.

"I'm sorry, sir. Mr. Lewis has asked us not to disclose information about him," the clerk said.

"Bitch, but smart kid." Logan muttered under his breath. The clerk looked at him in alarm. Logan looked around the lobby. There weren't any guards at the staircase, but then again, it was a hotel. He quickly turned away from the desk and sniffed. Robert was close. He could sense him leaving the hotel. He quickly followed him out of the hotel.

"Who are you and why are you following me?" a voice called out from behind Logan. Logan turned around. There stood Robert Lewis. 

"I'm here to protect you. I'm guess you can't get away." Logan said.

"The blue-devil's powers already wore off." Robert said, "Who are you?"

"I'm Logan." Logan said.

"You were walking around with big knives coming out of your hand about half an hour ago. You're not just Logan." Robert said.

"The kids call me Wolverine, Robert." Logan said.

"Don't call me that. That brings back to many memories." Robert said to him, harshly. "I go by Rob. My old friends used to call me Loner."

"Rob it is." Logan sensed that the kid didn't want him to call him Loner.

"Why are you following me?" Rob asked again.

"To tell you the truth, kid, you're to damn important to us to lose. The Brotherhood wants you and we want you. If you join the Brotherhood them Magneto will probably use you for one scheme or another and our entire organization will go down. Anyway, there's probably somebody in the X-Men you'd like to meet."

"You want me?" Rob knew they wanted him, but he'd never had somebody go right out and say it to him. "Who's that?" he said, referring to the statement.

"There's a girl in our organization that's got powers just like yours." Logan said.

Rob took a step back. "There's another like me? How do you know my powers?" Did this Logan know the hell he went through? He couldn't touch anybody without his gloves on. He had to wear long pants and a shirt in the boiling weather when he was back at home. He couldn't get close to anybody. One of the reasons his grandparents kicked him out was because he refused to kiss his grandmother goodnight and they said that he was disrespectful. 

"I saw you use them. Listen, I'll make a deal with you. Spend a few days at the Institute and if you don't like it, then you can leave and we'll stay out of your life."

"I guess that's ok. What's this girls name?" Rob asked.

"You'll find out, she's waiting in the car." Logan said. 


	5. Give it a try.

Rob swore under his breath

Rob swore under his breath. He had just given up his freedom and for what? A chance to meet a girl. He'd always been like that. A sucker for women. 

He silently trudged up to his room in the hotel. Logan was going to be by tin a hour to pick him up. He'd already canceled the reservation with the desk clerk. She'd been less then happy. He grabbed his bag and stuffed his jacket into it. Underneath, he was wearing a T-shirt. He stuffed his gloves into the bag as well. He changed into baggy shorts and looked at himself in the mirror. The X-Men would have to be incredibly careful around him if they didn't want to get hurt. He left the room, locking the door behind him. He walked down the flight of stairs to the lobby. He could sense Logan standing there, waiting.

"All set, kid?" Logan said, eyeing his clothing. "Don't touch anybody."

"That's the point." Rob said. Logan looked back at him. 

"Look kid, we don't ask much. All we want is a good attitude and for the kids to uphold our rep at Bayville High. You don't have to worry 'bout the second. It's summer. How old are you?"

"Eighteen. I would have been a senior, but I quit." Rob said. For some reason, he felt totally comfortable with Logan. 

"You're a year older then our oldest recruit. He's seventeen." Logan said.

"Cool." Rob's tone of voice signaled the end of the conversation. He followed Logan out to the car and jumped in the front seat. Logan started the car and silently drove to the mansion. Rob looked at it. The house looked uninviting and un-lived in. There wasn't any trace of the six teenagers that supposedly lived there.

"I know it looks a little overwhelming, but you'll get used to it." Logan said, getting out of the car. Rob followed him

"Did I say anything about staying?" rob shot back. "Don't push me. I'm not big on the big family things."

"Well, then brace yourself." Logan said. He threw open the front door. There stood all six teenagers plus a man in a wheelchair. The teens were dressed in everyday clothes. There were three girls and three boys. One of the boys was tall with red glasses. One had dark hair and the other had blond hair. One girl had red hair and the other was one with a brown ponytail. The third girl was the gothic one. They were all looking at him solemnly.

"Great party." Rob joked. The tallest boy looked at him. Rob couldn't see his eyes through the red sunglasses. He couldn't detect any sort of emotion coming from the boy.

"Jean, Scott, Kitty, Kurt, Rogue, and Evan, this is Robert." The man in the wheelchair said. Rob recognized him as Professor Xavier. The glasses guy held out a hand.

"I'm Scott." Rob backed away from the hand. He didn't want to hurt him.

"Call me Rob." Rob said. He reached into his bag and pulled ou his gloves. He pulled them on and reached for Scott's hand and shook it. Scott's head went over, looking at the gloved hand and looked way.

"I'm Evan." The blond guy said. He also shook Rob's hand.

"Nice to meet you." Rob couldn't believe himself. He was acting all polite, just like his grandparents had always wanted him to. Evan steeped back. He was just like Scott. He wouldn't' meet Rob's eyes.

"I'm Kitty and that's Jean." The ponytail girl said. When she reached out to shake Rob's hand, she accidentally brushed up against his bare arm. A look of shock registered in her face as she felt her powers and memories flowing out of her.

"Kitty?" Jean called after her. Kitty pulled away without a word. She collapsed into a sitting position a few feet away.

"You've already met me," the boy with the long dark hair said. Rob looked uninteresting as they shook hands. He was staring at Kitty. Kitty looked upset. Rob walked over to her, completely ignoring the last girl who stood there.

"Get away from her!" yelled another girl's voice. Rob felt a hand on his arm. Instinctively he shook it off. He stared at the girl who dared touch him. "Don't do that. You'll get hurt," he warned.

"So? Stay away form Kitty!" the girl yelled again. Rob took a step closer to Kitty. HE only wanted to see if he'd hurt her. He looked down. Kitty's eyes were glazed over. This only happened when he made contact for a few seconds. Rob looked around him. 

"Rogue!" Rob heard coming from just about everybody in the room. He whipped around just as Rogue's bare hands were about to latch onto his arm. Instead, they hit his face. Everybody watched in horror.


	6. Don't get close

"Rob

"Rob! Look out!" yelled Kitty. Rob could feel Rogue's bare hands on his face.

"Man, what are you doing?" he asked. "Get your hands off of me! We just me!" He pulled away from Rogue's hands. He then remembered what Logan had told him earlier, about the girl with powers similar to his own. Could she be that girl? She was wearing tights and a long sleeve shirt over a tank top. Her gloves lay harmlessly on the floor nearby. 

"I didn't affect ya?" Rogue stared at him. She looked towards him, then experimentally placed her hand on his arm. Rob once again shook it off. 

"Don't touch me," he warned again. "Your friend Kitty got hurt because she brushed up against my arm."

"Why don't you cover your skin up?" Rogue asked.

"'Cause I'm hot!" Rob said. Everybody in the room could sense the annoyance coming from him. "You wanna see me hurt somebody? Fine!" he grabbed onto Rogue's arm. He braced himself for the sudden surge of powers and memories, but nothing happened.

Rogue looked at him in the eyes. "Nothing happened," she whispered.

"That's not right." Rob said back. "I almost killed my grandfather when he touched me. How could you be immune?"

"The first guy I went out with was in a coma for awhile after he touched me." Rogue began, excitedly, "do you absorb the life force of humans and the mutant powers of mutants?"

"Yeah, but I've also got really keen senses and depending on where I'm touched, I absorb different amounts of powers." Rob said.

"I don't understand why this makes us immune to each other, but I haven't touched somebody else in such a long time, I don't really care." Rogue said. She looked at Rob with happiness in her eyes. Rob backed away slowly.

"You're the first person I've touched in awhile. But that doesn't make you anything special." He backed away. He didn't want to become close to anybody. They might just kick him out like his grandparents did. He didn't want to experience that again. It had been unpleasant enough the first time. 

"Rob," the Professor said, sensing his distress, "I'd like you to see a demonstration of all the other X-Men's powers." Rob slowly nodded his head. The Professor seemed to think he was going to stick around for awhile. He'd spend his three days, then decide. Demonstrations of powers weren't going to make him want to stick around. Lunch would though.

"My code name is Cyclops and I can shoot a red optic beam out of my eyes." Scott said. "I'm not going to demonstrate because I could shoot the place up."

"Ok," Rob said. He listened patiently while the other X-Men demonstrated their powers. He longed for the burger that he had set out to get before he was attacked. Evan's spikes briefly impressed him but the hunger soon set in again. When they were finished, Rob looked from one person to another. They were all staring at him again. He hated it when people stared at him.

"I'm hungry," he said. He'd never been one to just wait for something to be offered to him. 

"I'll take ya to the kitchen." Rogue said quickly. A little to quickly for his taste. He didn't want to get close to her just because he could touch her. He wasn't even sure if he liked the girl. 

"Um. Ok." Rob said. He followed her out of the main room and through twisted hallways to the kitchen. Rogue excitedly starting pulling boxes out of the cupboards and exclaiming about how good something was. Rob looked at her warily. He didn't want to get close to anybody at the mansion. He didn't know how long he was sticking around. He might only be here for the three days he had promised Logan. 

He turned away from her, surveying the room. It was huge, with enough food in it to feed the homeless for years. Rogue was tossing boxes around like they were nothing, when they actually meant so much. If it hadn't been for the last ounce of his grandparents kindness, he would have starved on the street. 

"_Get out of here! You're not welcome anymore. If you can't show respect for your Grandmother, then we're not going to let you stay here. I don't care if you don't have anywhere to go, just leave." Rob's grandfather yelled. Rob looked quickly from one of his grandparents to the other. They had taken him in when his parents died and now they were kicking him out? He was only seventeen._

"You don't understand! I can't kiss her good night. I'd kill her!" Rob yelled back. His grandparents looked at him warily. 

"No you wouldn't. It's a simple kiss. Don't tell me you're one of those mutants we've heard about." His grandfather looked at him in the eyes. Rob paused. It was the one simple pause that did him in.

"You are…" his grandmother whispered. "You're a mutant. No wonder your parents died." 

"It's not my fault! I was born this way." Rob yelled. 

"Get out of my house. You're not welcome here." His grandfather yelled. Rob quickly ran up to his room. He stuffed some clothes, valuables, and his wallet into a duffel bag. He picked up a picture from beside his bed. Four smiling adults stared back at him. His parents and grandparents. They'd promised they would always be there. 

He stuffed the picture into his bag and ran out of the house as fast as he could. He got to the bus stop and took the bus to Boston. A new city for the mutant to hide in. 

"I'm not hungry," he said to Rogue. Rogue looked at him again. 

"Ok," she said weakly. "I'll show you to your room. It's upstairs." Rob silently followed her through the hallways again. She pointed one of the doors in the long hallway. "Right there." She quickly ran down the hall and pushed opened the door to another room. Rob walked into the room. It was large and plush. It was very different from the crap hotels he had gotten used to living in. He walked around it. His bag had been set down by the bed. There was another smaller paper bag on the bed. Rob opened it. It was a colorful X-Men uniform like the ones that Rogue, Kitty, and Kurt had been wearing earlier. 

"They just don't get it," he whispered. He picked up the bag with the spandex horror in it and tossed it into the back of his closet. "I might not be around here long." 


	7. Basketball

Rob slowly snuck out of the room and down the hall towards the kitchen that Rogue had showed him earlier

Rob slowly snuck out of the room and down the hall towards the kitchen that Rogue had showed him earlier. He had spent about an hour in the room before he had gone crazy from its neatness and had to hold himself back from throwing things everywhere. He was hoping that none of the X-Men would find him. He didn't want to get to attached to this place or the people here. 

He found the kitchen and walked in. Luckily, nobody was there. He pulled a bag of chips out of one of the cupboards and ran back to his room. He opened the bag and pulled a few out. 

"Rob?" a voice at his door called, followed by a knock. It was a male's voice. Rob sighed in relief. It wasn't Rogue again. 

"Yeah?" he called back. The door was pushed open. Evan and Kurt stood at the door. Kurt eyed the bag of chips and then the room. Rob could tell that he didn't think that he should have them in his room. 

"We're going to play basketball out back. We need somebody else to play so we can have even teams." Evan explained. Rob looked at him and then at Kurt.

"You have six people here, don't you?" he asked. He actually did want to play with them, but he didn't want somebody being left out so that they could make lame attempts to include him. 

"Rogue doesn't want to play." Kurt said. He was keeping his distance from Rob. He had first hand experience of what Rob could do.

"I guess…" Rob trailed off. He went into his bag and pulled on a long sleeved T-shirt. 

"Wear your gloves." Kurt commanded. He grabbed onto Evan's back. "The games out there. We'll see you in a few." There was a poof of smoke and a really nasty smell and the two were gone. Rob looked out his window. He could see the five teenagers standing there. Scott and Jean were standing together looking at Kitty, Kurt, and Evan. He pulled on a pair of pants and grabbed his gloves and looked out the window again. They were all still standing there, but this time Kitty was tapping her foot impatiently against the ground. Rob stifled a laugh and ran out of his door and around random hallways until he finally found one that led outside—ten minutes later.

"Where were you?" Scott asked him.

"I had trouble finding a way out, no big deal." Rob said. He could feel his face begin to smile, but he quickly frowned instead. Scott looked away.

"Well, you're on my team with Jean. No powers." Scott said. A collected groan sounded from all of the players. Rob could tell that this was a rule that was often put into place by Scott, and then quickly 'forgotten'. Jean levitated the ball up for a jump ball, then let it go. The game began. 

Rob quickly gained control of the basketball, avoiding all of the other players on the court easily. He had been on the basketball team at his old school and had been one of the best players. He had almost made a basket when Evan out of nowhere got the ball from him. The game quickly became a one-on-one deal between Evan and Rob. They continually taunted each other and played keep away for almost an hour. The others watched from the sidelines and slowly drifted back into the house. 

_It's time for dinner, Evan and Rob. _The Professor's voice was loud and clear in Rob's head. He looked towards Evan and gave a small smile.

"Good game," he said and set out towards the house to find the dining room. Evan stared after him in disbelief. Had Rob just smiled? Rob hadn't even given any of them a second glance since he'd gotten there earlier that day. He'd given them all the impression that the institute was the last place he wanted to spend his time. Evan shrugged and followed Rob into the mansion. He went through the hallways and into the dining room. Everybody was there, even Rob.

"What's for dinner?" Scott asked. 

"Burgers…veggie for you, Kitty." Jean said. She levitated the covers off of the food and everybody began their normal dinner rush. Food was thrown, eaten, and stolen, and Rob was watching the whole time. 

Watching them was hard, but participating was harder. He was so used to being alone in the world that he wasn't really sure how to get close to people again. He'd made an effort with Evan that afternoon, but besides that he hadn't really tried. He couldn't really figure out why. He didn't really want to know why. He trusted his instincts and they were telling him not to get close. That somebody might get hurt. 

"Rob, where are you from?" Kurt said inbetween bites. 

"Massachusetts." Rob said. He took a big bite of his burger. Kurt got the message once again that he really didn't want to talk. He looked away from Rob with hurt in his eyes. Rob remembered that hurt all too well. It had haunted him for years.


	8. Awake.

"Rob __

"Rob." Rob twisted around. He'd been in Boston for almost three months now. He had used up all of his spare cash and was almost afraid to try out the credit cards. He was getting desperate. He wanted to go home, but he knew his grandparents wouldn't let him go back.

"Rob." The voice was more urgent this time. Rob looked around again. He couldn't see anybody in the room. Nobody with a life would set foot in this room. It was a mess. He'd rented the room for thirty bucks a month. Rent payments were coming up. How would he pay the bills?

"Open up, Rob!" Rob quickly ran over to the door and turned on the lights in his apartment. He opened the door. There stood his grandfather. The last person he would have expected to show up at his door. 

"Grandfather?" Rob asked. "Come in?" His grandfather stepped into the room and looked around in disgust. He was used to a rich lifestyle and Rob was living like a pig. Store brand boxes of foods and dirty clothes littered the room.

"I've come to tell you that all is forgiven, Rob. You can come back home."

"How did you find me?" Rob asked. His grandfather's eyes lit up.

"I sent a private investigator after you. Come home Rob, we love you." He was almost begging now. He placed a hand on Rob's arm. Rob realized how he was dressed far too late. His grandfather's eyes opened wide and then he collapsed on the floor. Rob quickly ran over to the phone, then realized there was no dial tone. He hadn't paid that bill yet. He ran down to the lobby of the apartment building and dialed 9-1-1 on the phone. Minutes later, a hospital crew arrived.

"I don't know what happened, he just collapsed." Rob said. He led them up to his room. The crew placed his grandfather on a stretcher and carried him out of the room. Rob followed them into the ambulance and rode to the hospital. He called his grandmother as soon as they got there. She arrived twenty minutes later. 

"What happened?" she asked. Rob's grandfather still lay on a bed, motionless. He was hooked up to several monitors.

"I don't know." Rob said, not meeting her eyes.

"I think you do," she said. "I think you know all too well. I know he was inviting you to live at home again. I don't want you there. You're rude and disrespectful. I want you to stay away from us." 

" I don't have any more money." Rob said. He looked helplessly at his grandmother. "Don't hate me." 

"Choose one credit card and we'll pay the bill. Just stay out of our lives, Robert. You've ruined them enough." She turned away from him. Rob felt a tear running down his face. 

Rob sat straight up in bed. His dreams had been way too familiar that night. He could remember that day like it was yesterday. He remembered putting his grandfather into the hospital and getting kicked out a second time. After that incident, he had moved to NYC. 

He remembered his promise to himself. He wouldn't ever let anybody hurt him again. It would take a lot of effort, but it was necessary to survive. Dependence was for the weak. He couldn't be weak anymore. It would hurt him to much.

These thoughts in mind, Rob lay back down on the bed. It was 2 AM. Rob knew it would be a long time before he got back to sleep.


	9. Opening up

"How do you like Rob

"How do you like Rob?" Scott asked the next morning at breakfast. Everybody was at the table but Rob. It was almost nine and they had given up on waiting for him.

"He's ok" was the chorused response from Jean and Kurt. Kitty started to say something then stopped. Rogue looked kind of glum and Evan very happy.

"He's cool, he's a challenge." Evan said. He grabbed the pitcher of milk and started drinking from it. A chorus of yucks sounded from everybody.

"He's fine, I guess. He could be a little bit nicer. I mean, I haven't been able to touch people in awhile and seeing him is nice. But he acts so distant and like he doesn't want to get close to anybody." Rogue said. Jean nodded with agreement, but Kitty was frowning and shook her head.

"You acted that way once too," she said. Rogue began to look even more unhappy then before, so Kitty rushed on. "I mean, he can't exactly get close to anybody without killing them. His powers are much more advanced then yours are. He almost knocked me out yesterday. Maybe he thinks that he's going to hurt somebody."

"I guess." With that, Rogue slunk out of the room. She could hear the table return to the normal morning babble, but she didn't want to participate. Rob had got her down majorly. He was the first person she could touch in such a long time, and he didn't care. He wasn't making any kind of effort to be any of their friends. It was like he was afraid. 

She continued walking down the hall and staring at the floor. She didn't notice the person standing in the hallway walking right toward her until she walked into him. "I'm sorry," she said without looking up.

"Rogue," the other person responded. "What's wrong?" The voice wasn't the familiar one of Scott and it wasn't the goofy one of Kurt. Rogue finally looked up. Rob was standing in front of her, his arms crossed. 

"Nothing," she looked back down at the floor and continued walking. She could hear Rob walk up behind her.

"Don't give me any of this nothing crap. I'm not stupid. What's wrong Rogue? Don't like me?" Rob looked directly into Rogue's eyes. It looked to her like he was making an honest effort to be nice. 

"You're the first person and probably the last that I've ever been able to touch and you're treating us all like shit. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Rogue burst out. "I mean, I wouldn't be as upset if you shot fire out of your fingers, but this is different."

"You don't understand, Rogue. None of you do." Rob turned around. He was beginning to regret talking to her. He had figured that trying to be nice for once couldn't hurt. He had had second thoughts after waking up that morning about not sticking around. This was a place to stay. A place where he could finish his senior year and then go to college and be on his own. He didn't have any definite plans on staying yet. He was finally considering it though. 

"What don't I understand? I get the fact that you don't like us and would rather be rotting in a sewer somewhere." Rogue knew what she said was harsh, but she considered it to be true.

"That's not true." Rob back around and was now facing Rogue. "I can't get close to you people. You might end up.." he trailed off.

"End up what?"

"Kicking me out," he whispered. "If I get close to anybody, I'll be weak. Then when you all go away or I do, I'll be sad. I'll grow to depend on some of you. What if you let me down?" 

"X-Men don't do that."

"I'm not up for this saving the world thing. I just want to be on my own. I want to live in the real world and fight my own battles. Not the one somebody's set out for me."

"The X-Men aren't really about saving the world. We're about helping each other through the development part of our powers. We're all friends to each other." Rogue couldn't believe what was coming out of her mouth. This wasn't her speaking. Then she realized that the words were coming from her heart.

"Rogue, you switched sides on everybody, 'member?" Rogue could only nod. She didn't want that part of her past being brought up. "Lance, Pietro, Todd, and Fred got dependent on you and you let them down by leaving. I don't want to get dependent on people or have them get dependent on me. It didn't work out well the last time."

"What happened?"

Rob sighed. He didn't really want to talk about this right now. "My grandparents kicked me out a little over a year ago. Three months after they kicked me out, my grandfather came to my apartment to say all was forgiven and invite me back home. He touched my arm. He went into a coma. My grandmother made it clear that they never wanted to see me again." With that, he silently walked around Rogue and into his nearby room. Rogue watched him, stunned. Then she ran over to his door. 

"You're not the only one, Rob. You're not the only one who feels like that," she yelled. If Rob heard her, he wasn't showing it. He put a CD on the CD player in his room and turned the volume up on full, blasting Rogue out.

"You're not the only one who doesn't have a home." Rogue whispered, remembering the boy she had put into a coma and her run from that house. Suddenly, Rob's past actions came flying back at her. All of his words and movements were now explained. Her actions in the dining room must have been the reasons that Rob had stayed away from her. _He doesn't want to get close to people. He doesn't want to be dependent on people. He just wants to look out for himself. He thinks if he gets close to anybody, he'll end up hurting them, _Rogue thought. She walked to her room and lay down on the bed. Kitty was typing on her laptop.

"Are you ok?" she said without looking up from the keys.

"Yeah." Rogue said. For once she was telling the truth.


	10. Recruiters

"Why are we doing this again, yo

"Why are we doing this again, yo?" Todd asked as they walked towards the Bayville mansion. It had only been three days since their first run in with Rob. Now they were trying again? It wasn't making any sense. But nothing ever made any sense. Mystique never really gave any details of what they were supposed to be doing. She just told them to do something, and they did it. They didn't want to get kicked out of their house. It might be slightly beat-up, but it was home.

"Causethebossladytoldusto." Pietro said, as fast as usual. He was periodically running in front of the group as far as he could get and then running back. Todd thought that it looked like he might be on something. He was more jittery then normal.

"Don't worry about it." Lance said. "We'll just go in, talk to Rob, and get out. They can't deny us that. I mean, he hasn't joined either side…has he?" 

"I don't know." Todd said. Fred continued to walk without saying anything. "I mean, we shouldn't try to force him. He makes his own decisions. None of us were forced onto the Brotherhood." 

"Doesn't matter. Mystique told us to do this and I don't want to be the one responsible for paying all our bills when she gets mad. Let's just do it and get it over with. No more arguing." The rest of the trip was silent. About twenty minutes later, they got to the Institute. They all ducked behind one of the big bushes in front of it and looked at the stairs they would have to climb in a few minutes. 

Suddenly, the door opened and a boy came walking down the stairs. He was carrying a rather large duffel bag and looking around him like something bad was going to happen. He ran down the stairs and straight towards the Brotherhood with an extremely guilty look on his face. 

"Going somewhere?" Lance said to him. The boy turned around. It was Rob. They weren't going to have to go into the mansion to find him, he'd come to them.

"Yeah, I'm getting out of here. Now, if you don't mind…" he tried to push his way past Lance. Lance laughed.

"You aren't actually leaving are you? You should join us. We offer freedom. We do what we want. All we're required to do is to go on little missions for Mystique every once in awhile." Lance tried to make it all sound great, but Todd was shaking his head. If they were actually going to recruit Rob, they were going to have to try harder then that.

"Listen, _Lan_ce," Rob began, stressing Lance's name in a weird way. "I don't want to join your Brotherhood. I want to be left alone. I want to fend for myself. I want to have no dependents. Why do you think I left that place? Get out of my way." He tried once again to walk around Lance, but he stepped in front of Rob.

"Give it a try." Lance urged. 

"Get out of my way." Rob took off one glove. The Brotherhood stepped away from him almost immediately. Rob started to walk away, not noticing that Lance's foot had hit the ground a rather large tremor was coming straight at him. He lost his balance almost immediately. His glove fell out of his hand and to the ground. Rob quickly got back up. 

"Don't try it, _Lan_ce," he said again. He ran straight towards Lance and latched onto his arm. Or at least he tried. The next thing he knew, a large fist was being swung at his face. He fell over backwards at the impact. Then everything was black.  
"Fred, you're such a fuck up. What are we supposed to do with him now?" Lance cried. Fred winced at the insults and covered his face. He then pointed towards the bushes. Pietro and Todd each grabbed one of Rob's arms and dragged him over to where they had been hiding earlier. They dumped him in. Then they all bolted, leaving Rob unconscious in the bushes. The rain began five minutes later.


	11. Found him.

"It's pouring out, what's Kitty doing out there

"It's pouring out, what's Kitty doing out there?" Kurt asked at the table. Rogue looked at him distracted and then mumbled a quick I-don't-know. 

"Has anybody seen Rob? He was supposed to meet me for breakfast," she asked. It was almost nine. Rob didn't like getting up early, but he had promised to meet Rogue at eight forty-five. He had been nicer lately, participating in different events, talking and bonding with the students, and generally not being so distant. Rogue thought that this was all because of their conversation a few days ago. 

"He's not here." Evan said. He was looking somewhat upset about it. He had been looking forward to playing more basketball this morning. Rob had proved to be quite the challenge. Their games always stayed tied at zero forever. 

"Where is he?" Rogue asked again, her voice growing in volume. Suddenly, the front door of the mansion slammed loudly. 

"Like, a little help here?" they could hear Kitty yell. They all rushed to the front door. A dripping wet Kitty stood there with Rob. Rob was unconscious on the floor. "I like, went out to get the newspaper and I found Rob in the bushes, ya know." 

"Is he ok?" just about everybody said. 

"He'll be alright," they heard Logan say from behind them. He and Ororo stood behind all of them. Logan picked up Rob and brought him down to the infirmary with Ororo. They immediately realized that he had just blacked out and didn't have any serious injuries. But the X-Men didn't know that. 

~

"Do you think he's ok?" Rogue asked. They were sitting in the rec. room upstairs. After Rob's discovery, they had pretty much abandoned breakfast. Evan was randomly throwing spikes at a dartboard the professor had set up. Kitty was lying on a chair, sometimes phasing through it when she stopped paying attention. Scott and Jean were playing a mindless game of pool. Kurt was hanging off of the ceiling. They were all upset about Rob, but nobody was more upset then Rogue or Evan. They had become the closest to him.

"I think he'll be alright." Evan said. He was trying to look on the bright side. He didn't want to think about what would happen if Rob wasn't going to be ok. He'd grown on all of them. "What I want to know is what he was doing out there." 

"Kitty?" Rogue said. Kitty had phased through her chair once again at the sound of Rogue's voice. 

"What?" she said. She slowly pulled herself out of the chair.

"What was Rob doing outside?"

"I don't really know. He had his duffel bag with him though." She looked away from Rogue and Evan. Suddenly, she got up and left the room. 

Rogue followed her out of the room. Kitty phased through the door of their room. Rogue didn't bother to follow her. She quietly walked into Rob's room. It was as neat as the day he had gotten there a few days ago. She scanned the room. There was no sign of Rob anywhere. It was like he had just vanished. She opened a few drawers. They were all empty. She quickly opened the closet door. The only thing in the closet was a small paper bag. She opened it. It contained the X-Men uniform that Professor X gave all his students. Seeing this, she ran from the room. 


	12. Pain and Suffering

Rob's eyes opened slowly

Rob's eyes opened slowly. He wanted to just sit straight up in the bed he was lying in. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know how he got there. He just wanted to get out of there. 

"Easy," a voice said to him. He looked in the direction of the voice. A dark skinned woman with white hair stood there. He vaguely recognized her, but he couldn't quite remember her name. Just like he didn't know what he was doing here. He was supposed to be at the train station by now. He was supposed to be hiding out in a new city, as far away from New York as he could get. Somewhere where he would be safe from the ties he was starting to form with this family. 

"Let me out of here," he said. The woman looked towards him again. She silently shook her head. 

"You're injured," she told him. 

Rob decided not to fight her. He would get better in a few hours and then take off. He couldn't stay here. He was beginning to become better friends with the other students. He was talking to Rogue and becoming better friends, playing basketball with Evan, and developing a small crush on Kitty. He couldn't stick around. It would mean attaching himself to people that he didn't wanted to get attached to. And then they'd kick him out, just like his grandparents did.

"Rob?" a voice came from the hallway by his bed. He struggled to look up. The Professor was sitting nearby in his wheelchair. His balding head was shinning in the light. Rob looked away. 

"Yeah?" he responded, with absolutely no enthusiasm in his voice. He didn't really feel like talking to the mind reader. The man would just go and read his mind without his permission. Rob knew he was immune to Cerebro, but how long could he prevent the Professor from looking around in his head? He didn't want anybody poking around in there. They were his private thoughts. 

"I need to talk to you. Just why did you feel the need to leave the mansion this morning?" the Professor wasn't trying to probe for an answer yet, but Rob expected him to begin any moment.

"I don't know. Just didn't want to be here anymore," he said, as vaguely as possible. 

"I don't think that's right, Rob. I think that you're afraid. Afraid of getting attached to us. Afraid of loosing somebody you love. Afraid of being left alone." The Professor seemed to be concentrating awfully hard. Rob started to become prepared for him to probe his mind.

"How would you know? You don't know anything about me," Rob shot back. The Professor slowly shook his head.

"I know more then you think, Rob, and I'm not looking in your head to find out. I know this because we've all gone through it. All the mutants that were left homeless and beaten, kicked out by the people they love, feel it. It's just hitting you harder. I know that you feel like you can't become close to anybody. I know that you think that they'll reject you. Rob, you've got to understand that's not what the X-Men are about. Once you're a member, you're accepted here. You won't loose anybody except in some dire circumstance that I hope never happens, and you won't be left alone because the X-Men stick together."

"So?" Rob understood what the Professor was trying to tell him. He was trying to tell him that no matter what happened, he would have a home here. His grandparents had told him that right after his parents had died, and they hadn't kept their promise. 

"Rob, stay with us. If you don't, I can guarantee that you will suffer the emotions that you wish not to." The Professor looked into Rob's eyes. Rob turned his head. 

"I've taken care of myself for awhile. I can do without your help," he said. "I'm leaving when I'm healed."

"If that's what you want. Our doors are always open to you." With that, the Professor turned his chair around and left the room. Rob watched him go. His words were really starting to sink in. He wanted to stick around and hang out with everybody, he really did. But he didn't want to suffer the consequences of getting close to people. It hurt too much when they left. When they abandoned him. If he got close, it would just happen all over again. 

He lay back in the bed. Rogue and Evan would be incredibly mad at him if he took off once again. But they shouldn't care. He was a Loner. They should know that. Maybe he would come back and visit every once in awhile, but he didn't want to live there. Not even if he could finish his senior year and go onto a good college provided by the Professor. Not even if he could touch Rogue. Not even if his grandparents came to see him. He didn't want to suffer anymore. It was time for the suffering to end. 

_And the only way to end it is to leave…_he thought. 

~

Out in the hallway beyond the Med Lab, the Professor shook his head sadly. 

_No Rob, you can get rid of the pain if you stay and experience a family again. _he thought. But of course, Rob didn't hear him.


	13. Give us a chance...

Rogue ran through the hallways downstairs to the med

Rogue ran through the hallways downstairs to the med. lab. The Professor had told all the X-Men to stay away from Rob, but she was ignoring him. She needed to see him. She needed to ask why he wasn't going to stay. She needed to get the feeling of complete sadness out of her system. Maybe it was a fluke? Maybe he was only leaving so he could get something and come right back.

_You know that isn't true, _the annoying voice in her head told her. Rogue tried to suppress it. The voice wasn't always right. It just tormented her about things in her life she wasn't sure about. Maybe yes, maybe no. But this time she thought it was right. 

She got to the door and looked in. There weren't any big locks that she would have to go through. Just a small panel. Rogue typed in a code that she had learned awhile ago and the door slid open. The Professor would know she was there, but he couldn't do anything about it now…she hoped.

Rob was lying in his bed. He was asleep. He had a large reddish bruise on his forehead, but that was about it. Rogue sat down on a seat next to him. She just sat there for about thirty minutes until he woke up. 

"What are you doing here?" he asked. He clearly didn't want anybody there. 

"Just checking up on you. How's it going?" It was clearly not the question that she wanted to ask.

"I'm not telling you why I left." Rob stated, ignoring her previous inquiry. He turned away from her so he wasn't looking at her face. "It's none of your business." 

"I think it is." Rogue's voice was suddenly very loud. "Rob, you get close to all of us. You're part of our lives and now you're just leaving on us? I think we…I deserve an explanation." 

"Get out of here Rogue." 

"What?" she couldn't believe him. "You can't be serious."

"I am. Get out of here. I don't need to explain myself to you." 

"Oh, I get it…" she started, but was interrupted by Rob once again.

"I said, get out." 

"You're afraid. Afraid of us. Afraid of getting close, getting hurt. The minute you become better friends with us, you think we're going to abandon you.." 

"Get out Rogue." 

"That's not the way things work around here." This time she was interrupted by a yell from Rob.

"Get. Out. Rouge." He struggled to sit up in bed and pointed towards the door. "I don't want to see you. I don't want to see any of you. I'm leaving because I don't like it here." His eyes were hard. Rogue looked from him to the door. She started towards the door.

"We're not going to hurt you. Just give us a chance," she said. Then she pushed a few buttons on the door. It opened and she stepped out. She took one last look over her shoulder and continued down the hall. Rob watched her go.

He couldn't stay here. Those words of Rogue's were just words. She didn't mean them. Just like his grandparents hadn't meant them when they'd taken him in all those years ago….

__

"Don't worry, sweetie. You'll be safe with us," his grandmother said. A five-year-old Rob looked from one of his grandparents to the other. His grandmother held her arms open and his grandfather was watching him.

They don't get it, he thought, my mommy and daddy are ok. Daddy just had an accident with his hands. The car lit on fire. They were in the hospital though. The doctors will make them all better. 

"Robert, honey, we're going to take you home," his grandmother said again. Rob backed away into the corner. His grandparents watched him.

"Mommy and Daddy are ok. They're coming to get me. They'll be very mad at you," he tried to inform his grandparents. His grandmother wiped a tear away from her eye.

"Mommy and Daddy are dead, sweetie," she said. "Daddy had an accident in the car."

"You're lying!" Rob yelled. "Daddy said that I'd never be alone. That I'd always have them!" He started to run away from his grandparents as fast as possible. They followed him into the next room. 

"Robert, darling, you'll be ok here. It's what your parents wanted," his grandmother tried to tell him. Rob looked away. 

"My name is Rob," he said. He tried to back away again, but this time his grandfather caught him in his strong arms. 

"We're not going to hurt you. Just give us a chance," he said. Rob looked into his grandfather's eyes. They were filled with love and caring. Rob slowly nodded his head. 

"They said that and they didn't keep their promise. Why would these people be any different?" Rob asked himself. "I've got to get out of here, before I get hurt again." He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to sleep, but the words kept haunting him. 

_We're not going to hurt you. Just give us a chance._


	14. They. Are. My. Friends.

Rob spent the rest of the day in the med

Rob spent the rest of the day in the med. lab sleeping and awaking in intervals. Nobody came to visit him. Nobody came to check on him. Nobody did anything. It made him uneasy. They were usually right in his face and now they were leaving him alone. It didn't seem right to him. 

He seemed ok. He could move without hurting himself now. He didn't know why he was just sitting around. Getting up and just leaving was obviously an option. But something was holding him back. Something was keeping him captive in this place. He guessed it was the connections he had made with the others here. That was why he hadn't wanted to stick around. 

Rob slowly pulled himself into a sitting position. He didn't feel any pain. He stood up and looked around. His duffel bag was lying next to the bed. He grabbed it and headed towards the door. It opened before he could press any buttons on the door. He shrugged and walked through it. 

The mansion was surprisingly quiet right now. He walked to the front door. He placed his hand on the doorknob when something in the front lawn caught his eye. Logan was fighting a tall, muscular man. The man let out a roar and Logan took a swipe at him with his claws but he was easily batted away. Rob continued to survey the lawn. The members of the Brotherhood were attacking the X-Men. They had some blue lady with them and a guy that seemed to be floating in midair. The Professor's wheelchair lay on its side, the professor sprawled several feet away, unconscious. The X-Men were fighting their best, but they seemed to be loosing. 

Rob turned away from the window. He should be out there. He should be helping to defend them. But something inside of him told him it was a bad idea. Something told him that if he walked out of this house he would be dead in the next twenty minutes. He started to back away from the window when he caught Rogue looking at him through the window. She was distracted for two seconds by him and in those few moments, Fred had taken advantage of it and had began to squish her under his immense body weight. 

"Rogue!" Rob heard himself scream. He pushed the front door open. Everybody in the battle heard the door slam behind him. Rob started running towards Rogue. He began to rip his gloves off. Fred took one look at him and batted him away. Rob fell several yards away from where Fred was. Fred got off of Rogue and started lumbering towards Rob.

"Don't." a man's voice commanded. Rob watched helplessly as the floating man came closer to him. "Join us, Rob. We can help you with the pain." 

"I don't know who you are, but I'd rather die then join your band of losers." Rob told him. Most of the X-Men looked towards him with that statement. Rob felt a sense of loyalty towards the people who had taken him in. Suddenly all the things that the Professor and Rogue had said to him made sense. He was part of their group. They weren't going to randomly abandon him. He couldn't do it to them. This fight was about him and would be ended by him. He stood up and ripped off his gloves. 

"As you wish," was all that was spoken. The floating man came straight towards him. His entire body was covered. Rob saw no out of the situation. He grabbed the person nearest to him. It was Pietro, once again. He started to absorb Pietro's life force and mutant gifts at a surprising rate. The floating man seemed to be taken aback that somebody would do something like this around him. Rob let go of Pietro and he fainted. Unfortunately for Rob, he looked dead.

"Don't. Hurt. My. Friends." Rob said. He used Pietro's speed to avoid the flying man. He ran towards them and started to help a few of them up. 

"You've made a grave mistake, Rob. You don't mess with Magneto." The flying person-Magneto-came up behind him. Rob ran over to the other side of the building. He didn't see Magneto check Pietro and swear revenge. He didn't hear Magneto tell the tall, muscular man to get him. And bring him back no matter the cost. 

"Rob! Watch out!" he heard from behind the other side of the lawn. Rob looked back and saw Kitty and Rogue pointing behind him. Evan was jumping up and down right next to them, pointing behind Rob. A few moments later, the three of them took off running towards Rob. He held out his hand as if to stop them. They continued to point behind him. 

A roar sounded from behind him. Rob turned around in time to see the man jump out of a tree and fall straight towards him. Then everything was black. 

~

"Rob!" yelled Rogue. They had finally caught up to him. Evan was throwing spikes at Sabertooth, trying to distract him. Rob was lying unconscious on the ground and he wasn't breathing this time. Sabertooth was trying to get to Rob.

"Don't bother, Sabertooth. He's no good to us dead," she heard Magneto say. For the first time, she realized that Rob was bleeding out of his nose and one ear. Sabertooth's feet had landed on Rob's shoulders pushing him to the ground rather hard and then his fists had each hit Rob's head on either side. It looked pretty bad, but she didn't think he was dead. He couldn't be dead. It wasn't possible.

"Brotherhood, let's get out of here," she heard Mystique yell.

"If you did anything to him, I'll kill you!" she yelled at the now retreating Brotherhood. Sabertooth let out a roar and showed his fangs. Fred looked back at her, Pietro over his shoulder. Lance was the only one to speak.

"So says the traitor." 

Rogue looked back at Rob's body. Kitty was trying to perform CPR. The rest of the X-Men ran over to them. Storm looked at Rob's body and then back at the Professor, who had been restored to his wheelchair. She shook her head. 

"Kurt, carefully transport him to the med. lab," she said. "But I'm not sure if there's much we can do for him right now. Professor, you better contact his grandparents."


	15. Remembering

The moment Rob was moved into the med

The moment Rob was moved into the med. lab, he was hooked up to a bunch of different monitors. Even Rogue knew what the one long continuous beep from the heart monitor meant. In all the TV shows and movies, it meant the patient was dead. 

Rogue stepped out of the room. She had watched as Ororo hooked Rob up to different monitors and IV's and machines. She had watched as she injected him with different concoctions and medicines, only to have Rob not respond to any of them. But Rob couldn't be dead. Rob was only eighteen. He'd only been at the Institute for a few days. He hadn't even gotten to know any of them real well. Except her. 

She began to walk around the hallways of the mansion. Each place she went to held some memory for her. The open hallway where they'd first met Rob. His bedroom. The dining room. She quickly left the house and went outside, only to find herself looking at the basketball court. She walked out to the edge of the court and sat down. At least she might have some of his memories to remember him by. She had touched him, hadn't she? She always took comfort in the fact that if somebody she had come in contact with was killed, she could keep them living in herself. 

Then it hit her. This time it wouldn't work. Her and Rob's powers cancelled each other out. She wouldn't be able to remember him that way. She wouldn't be able to relive the painful moments in his life when she was trying to sleep. She wouldn't be able to smile when one of his happier memories hit her. She would have to remember Rob through the few encounters she had had with him. The not-so-charming encounter would play an even bigger part in her memories of him. 

_If he's dead,_ the voice in her head told her. The annoying little voice had often preached true and untrue facts alike to her. She couldn't always tell whether or not to believe it. Usually, it was only half-right. But this time, she trusted it. She ran as fast as she could back to the med. lab. 

"Any changes?" she asked, breathlessly. The other X-Men weren't there. The only person there was Ororo and the Professor. They were both looking at the still body lying on the bed. They both shook their heads, unconvincingly. Rogue stepped out of the room. 

"Did you contact his grandparents?" she heard Ororo ask. She stepped back towards the door and put her ear to it. 

"Yes. They're coming tomorrow," the Professor responded. "Make sure the students are all prepared. I don't want this to be a shock for them." Rogue didn't want to hear anymore. Rob was dead. She had to accept it. She took off running as fast as possible towards her bedroom. She locked the door, knowing it wouldn't keep Kitty out, and put on her headphones. She slowly began to drown out her sadness in music. 

"Rogue? Are you there?" Kitty's voice sounded through the door. She rattled the doorknob. It was locked. Slowly, she phased through the door and looked around the room. "You know Rogue, you can't lock me out," she said. 

Then she saw Rogue. She was lying on her bed, asleep with her headphones on. "I guess my news will have to wait until you wake up." Kitty whispered. She phased back through the door and went into the rec. room where all of the X-Men had gathered. 

"She's asleep." Kitty told them.

"Good," the Professor said. "I don't want the shock to be more painful then it has to."


	16. The Impossible

The next morning, Rogue woke up with an incredible headache

The next morning, Rogue woke up with an incredible headache. Her CD player was still going. She silently cursed for putting it on the repeat setting before she had gone to sleep. Kitty was lying in her bed, a small smile on her face. Rogue wanted to go over and slug her. She shouldn't be smiling. Rob was dead. 

She looked at the clock. It was eight. She had been sleeping for over twelve hours. She pulled some clean clothes out of the dresser and walked out the door and to the bathroom. She quickly changed, dumping her dirty stuff in a pile on the floor. She got a quick look at her face as she glanced in the mirror. Her hair was knotted and her makeup was smeared. She got a washcloth and wiped off her face. She'd go without makeup today. She didn't have to go to school today, she still had a couple weeks left in summer. She could go without her gothic look for once. 

"Who are you and where's Rogue?" she heard Scott joking once she got to the dining room. She couldn't understand why he would be joking at a time like this. One of their friends was dead. Sure, he'd only been around for a few days, but still, he was dead. Shouldn't he be upset?

"Nah," Rogue said. She grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on and took a bite. The sugary sweet taste of a doughnut filled her mouth. She spit it back into a napkin and grabbed a bagel. 

"What's up Rogue?" Jean asked. She was sitting beside Scott. 

"Nothing," Rogue told her. She threw the offending doughnut into the trash in the corner and took a bite out of the bagel. The not so sweet taste comforted her. Why should she be treating herself to luxuries like doughnuts when Rob wouldn't ever eat again? 

"Rogue, what's wrong?" asked Jean again. Jean wasn't somebody to let the conversation go. She could tell that Rogue was upset and she was going to do something about it. 

"I said, nothing," Rogue said again, loudly. "Why are you so happy? Rob is dead." 

"Oh." Jean gave Scott a look. "We'll leave you alone." The two of them got up and left the dining room. Rogue looked down at the bagel. She wasn't hungry anymore. She didn't feel like doing anything. She took her bagel and threw it as hard as she could across the room. It hit the wall with a satisfying thump and landed on the floor. 

"Easy, Rogue," she heard Logan say. He stepped out of the doorway. "Throwing things isn't going to help anybody." 

"Get away from me." Rogue said. She ran from the room and into the backyard. Evan was standing there, shooting hoops as if nothing had happened. As if Rob was some sort of distant memory. As if he hadn't nearly beaten Evan every time they had played one-on-one.

"What are you doing?" she yelled. "Rob is DEAD and you're playing basketball?" she ran away from the court and around the mansion, leaving Evan standing there, holding the ball. She continued running until she hit the spot where Rob had been laying yesterday. She sat down, leaning against the tree that Sabertooth had jumped out of and began to cry. 

~

"Professor, you really should tell her." Jean said after she left the dining room that morning. Scott was standing with her. "That's somewhat mean." 

"Rogue needs to learn," the Professor stated somewhat simply. 

"She shouldn't have to learn like this." Jean protested. "You know something that she doesn't. You need to tell her." 

"Rob's grandparents will be here to pick him up in a few hours, let's prepare the mansion," the Professor said, signally the conversation was over. Jean and Scott left the room and walked back towards the dining room. Rogue was gone and there was a bagel on the floor. Logan was sipping coffee by the window, reading the newspaper. 

"You need to tell her, Red, nothing's going to be ok until you do," he said, not looking up. "Sometimes you have to go with your instincts and ignore those who tell you not to." 

"I guess." Jean said. She left the room and walked to the front of the mansion where she could sense Rogue. Rogue looked up at her. Her makeup-less face was pale and hollow. It was streaked with tears. 

"What?" she said, somewhat meanly. "Can't you people ever leave me alone?"

"There's something I need to show you." Jean said, She started back towards the mansion. Rogue started to follow behind her. Jean walked through the halls and towards the med. lab. Rogue stopped right outside of the door. 

"I'm not going in there," she said. 

"Yes you are," she pushed a few buttons on the door and then pushed Rogue into the room. Rob lay on one of the cots. He wasn't bleeding anymore. He had an IV taped to his arm. 

"Why is that there? He's dead, he doesn't need that." Rogue said. Jean shook her head and silently pointed towards the heart monitor. The noise had been turned off, but Jean turned it back on. A steady, constant beeping sounded from the machine, instead of the long, continuous beep that Rogue had been expecting. She looked back at Rob's body and watched in awe as his chest moved shakily up and then down again. His eyes remained shut. 

"What happened?" she asked. She looked at Jean. "How come nobody told me?" she demanded. 

"Yesterday, you left before the rest of us. Ororo was able to get a heartbeat and perform the unthinkable. She said that there wasn't much hope, but she meant there still was some hope left. Logan then placed his hand on his arm and let him absorb his healing skills. If he had been completely dead, then he wouldn't have been able to, but he wasn't. Kitty's CPR probably saved his life. The Professor probably thought that you would be to overwhelmed if you knew. We contacted his grandparents yesterday. They're coming today and taking Rob home to recover in Massachusetts." 

"You mean he's alive?" Rogue asked. She couldn't believe it. It had all looked so hopeless yesterday. But she hadn't been paying attention. She had let the little voice control her, tell her untrue facts. Rob was alive. He wasn't dead. 

"Yes, he's alive. Rogue, he's alive. And he'll probably be fine." Jean took Rogue's arm. "We've got to go now. His grandparents will be here soon." Rogue took one last look at Rob's body and smiled. There was faith after all.

************* 

__

Hey, it's me. I know, I know, I haven't done any notes like this before, but there is a first time for everything, right? Well anyway, he looked dead, now he isn't. I've had problems thinking of what I was going to do with him for awhile. I mean, first I wanted to kill him, then I didn't, then I did…Anyway, I'm hoping that his being alive is possible in real life, but even if it isn't, believe it for this story. Advanced medical treatment or something like that. Anyway, there are only a few parts left and I'm going to start a new story after that, so enjoy the ending scenes. 

-Black Ice


	17. Epilogue

The next day, Rob's grandparents came and took Rob home

The next day, Rob's grandparents came and took Rob home. He wasn't awake yet. As soon as he got back to Massachusetts, his grandparents brought him back to the house. They didn't tell anybody about him being there. A visiting nurse came every few days to check on him, but she wasn't allowed to touch him

After a few weeks, Rob's grandparents started to lose hope. Rob might never wake up. He might die. And it would be all their fault. Their fault for not accepting him for who he was. Their fault for practically forcing this upon him.

Rob's grandmother never left his side. She barely ate or talked to anybody. She left for exactly twenty minutes a day, and sat with him for the other one thousand four hundred and twenty. But even she was beginning to lose home. Then one day, it all changed. 

"Where am I?" Rob asked, sitting up straight in bed. The sudden movement caused his head to momentarily light on fire. He groaned and sat back down.

"Rob, are you awake?" he heard. He struggled to sit up again. The blurry image in front of him began to take the shape of somebody who he hadn't seen in a long time. The entire room was beginning to look familiar. 

"Grandma?" he asked, slowly. The blurry shape in front of him nodded. Rob could feel wet tears on his hand. He slowly raised one hand up towards the figure and wiped away some of the tears. 

"Rob, I'm so glad you're ok. We're so sorry that we kicked you out. I wish it had never happened. I wish that we'd allowed you to stay. Please forgive our errors and stay home." The words were lost in the immense weeping coming from his grandmother. Her face started to take shape. Rob sat up, ignoring the pain and placed his arms around her. 

"It's not your fault," he whispered. "But I don't think I can stay here anymore."

~~

A sullen Rogue walked the perimeter of the estate for the fifth time that day. She hadn't found anything better to do in awhile. Rob had been gone for almost two months now. He'd only been there a few days, but he had left his mark on the entire group. Evan could hardly play basketball without commenting on a better person to play against. And she was just moping around. 

"Rogue," she heard from behind her. Scott stood tall, his ruby glasses sparkling in the sun. 

"What do you want." Rogue asked. 

"We have a training session now, don't you remember?" Scott said. He placed his arm around her shoulder and started to walk in, practically pushing Rogue. Rogue angrily shrugged his arm away. 

"There are tons of new recruits. Use one of them." She said, turning her back. Scott sensed the distress coming from her. 

"It's your turn," he said gently, still not getting that this wasn't about the training session. "Let's go." Rogue tried to walk away again, but this time Scott wouldn't let her. "The Professor wants to see you, anyway." 

"Fine." Rogue stomped her feet all the way back to the entrance to the mansion. She opened the door and slammed it in Scott's face. She ran all the way up the stairs and to the Professor's office. She placed her hand on the door, then pulled back. 

Rob had been the first recruit ever to be so seriously injured at the Institute. He hadn't been the first one they lost, but he had been the first one they lost to injury. She tried to hold back her tears once again, but she knew that they would start flowing any moment. She quickly wiped off her eyes and turned the doorknob. Now was a time to be strong. 

"I'm here, Professor." Rogue said. 

"Very good, Rogue," the Professor said. "There's somebody here I'd like you to see. Meet our newest recruit, Rob Lewis."

Rob stepped out of the curtains and towards Rogue. He looked a little paler, a little taller, and a little stronger then before. But he was Rob. Rogue ran towards him and swung her arms around his neck.

"Welcome home," she whispered.

"It's good to be back," he said back. And this time he really meant it.


End file.
